Author: George Malik

iDnes.cz’s Vojtech Tuma has written an in-depth interview with new Red Wings forward Dominik Kubalik, but the vast majority thereof is stuck behind a paywall. All I can translate is the introduction:

On Yzerman, teammates, a new challenge. Kubalik about the attraction of Detroit and the crisis in Chicago.

He struggled last season. He didn’t score goals, he shuttled between lines, and spent several games in the stands. “I’ve never experienced such a crisis,” admits Dominik Kubalik in an interview for iDNES Premium. He no longer thinks about the unsuccessful conclusion of his three-year tenure in Chicago, however. He’s moving on for the first time in the NHL. And he’s looking forward to a new start in Detroit.

Signing with the Red Wings offers several attractions. The Czech forward will have several fellow Czechs in the locker room, while also trying out the atmosphere in another traditional team from the Original Six.

Thanks to a two-year contract worth $5 million, he’ll have more peace of mind at work. And, in addition, he’ll be part of the ambitious rebuilding project of successful general manager Steve Yzerman.

“That’s why I chose Detroit,” says Kubalik.

The article continues behind the paywall…

The Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe reports that Toledo Walleye coach Dan Watson has signed a 5-year contract extension with the Red Wings’ ECHL affiliate:

After five years at the helm of the Toledo Walleye franchise, head coach Dan Watson is back for five more years.

Watson has been part of the Walleye organization since its inception in 2009-10, first as an assistant coach and then as the team’s head coach beginning in 2016-17. On Thursday, Watson signed a five-year contract extension.

“Being the head coach in Toledo is a true honor,” Watson said after throwing out the first pitch at the Mud Hens game. “It’s the top franchise in the ECHL for a lot of reasons. It’s very humbling to be standing here signing a five-year contract.”

The Walleye have never missed the playoffs in his first five seasons, and Watson has guided the team to two appearances in the Kelly Cup Finals. Toledo fell short in the 2018-19 season, losing to Newfoundland in the championship round. Last season, Watson guided Toledo back to the Finals before the Walleye lost to the Florida Everblades.

“Ultimately, our goal is to win the Kelly Cup. We’ve been close,” Watson said.

Continued

The Hockey News’s Mike Stephens posted a list of his top 5 free agent centers still available on the free agent marketplace, and he brings up an intriguing name still out there–one that the Red Wings employed this past season in Sam Gagner:

Sam Gagner 

2021-22 Stat Line: 81 GP, 13 goals, 18 assists, 31 points, 13:37 TOI
2021-22 Cap Hit: $750,000

Gagner has been around for so long that it’s easy to miscast him as a Jason Spezza-type greybeard. But Gagner will only be 33 when the regular season begins in a few months’ time, four years younger than Spezza was when he first signed in Toronto, and seems to have plenty of tread left on his tires after 15 NHL seasons. 

Despite logging under 14 minutes per night on a bad Red Wings team in 2021-22, Gagner still managed to rack up over 30 points and nearly 15 goals all while beginning just 41 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone, providing terrific value as a depth forward making the NHL’s minimum wage. 

Who knows what he could do in different circumstances? Perhaps with a better supporting cast around him and the benefit of some offensively-sheltered usage, Gagner could the perfect addition to any contender’s fourth line as they gear up for a Cup run. 

There’s simply no risk in giving him a shot. And I’d bet as training camp roles around, Gagner finds himself on the receiving end of a few intriguing offers. 

Continued; Gagner is one of those players that’s probably going to go into an NHL team’s front office when he retires, and in the interim, he is still both relatively productive and relatively young, showing glimpses and flashes of top-end skill from time to time while performing at a workmanlike level.

I wonder whether the Red Wings might invite him to camp to see whether he can serve as a solid depth player for Detroit again.

Detroit Hockey Now’s audit of the Red Wings’ prospect system has gotten to the outskirts of the Red Wings’ prospect system, including defensemen such as Seth Barton and today’s profiled player, Wyatt Newpower.

Newpower is one of those “on the fringe” prospects, 24 going on 25 this December, and big at 6’3″ and 207 pounds, but the right-shooting defenseman who turned pro with the Cleveland Monsters in 2020-21 with a fine short season had a rougher first full pro campaign with Grand Rapids, posting 3 goals and 7 assists for 10 points in 55 games (with 54 penalty minutes).

Where does the big defenseman fit in? Allen suggests that he’s a depth defenseman at the NHL level–as does Grand Rapids Griffins coach Ben Simon:

When Wyatt Newpower broke his hand last season while playing for the Griffins, he played with it for four games before he left the lineup.

“He’s a little bit of an old soul,” Grand Rapids Griffins coach Ben Simon said. “He plays with his heart on his sleeve.”

Simon says simply the Griffins got more than they anticipated from Newpower after the Red Wings signed him as a free agent. He had turned pro the previous season after graduating from college. He played a limited number of games for Cleveland in the AHL.

“We didn’t know if he was that sound of a defenseman in Cleveland because the AHL was a little watered down last year, it was a little younger, wasn’t that much depth,” Simon said. “So he blew our expectations away this year. He’s got a little bit of a throwback mentality. He’s a little bit old school. He blocks shots. He’s defensively sound. He’s got some offense to him.”

The Red Wings like his mental toughness and the fact he knows how to use his 6-foot-3 frame. “I’ve got a lot time for Wyatt,” Simon said.

Continued; at this point, Newpower fills out the Grand Rapids Griffins’ roster, but he’s big and mean, frankly, and that’s useful at the AHL level. He may play a key role in “keeping the flies off” in a league where there are still dedicated tough guys.

Dylan Larkin took part in the Rocket Mortgage Classic’s “AREA 313 Celebrity Scramble” on Tuesday:

Just happy to be here! 🏌️‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/xXJt5l7IfG— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 28, 2022

Clamoring for Walleye hockey?

🚨 @DWats6 and @skdenis26 will throw out the first pitch and sign autographs in the right field tent at tonight’s @MudHens game. Be in your seats before the game when a HUGE announcement is made. 🚨

🎟️: https://t.co/Jgc0U6chls pic.twitter.com/nQGkSFTWn8— Toledo Walleye (@ToledoWalleye) July 28, 2022

Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin ranked his Top 300 fantasy hockey players this morning, and here are the Red Wings players on his list:

63. Dylan Larkin, C, Red Wings: He’s tasked with doing more than just score, so that caps his upside in the 30-goal, 70-point range, but that’s nothing to sneeze at. With his supporting cast vastly improved this offseason, too, 2022-23 looks like his best chance at a career year.

65. Moritz Seider, D, Red Wings: Any defenseman who gives you 50 points, 187 shots, 151 hits and 161 blocks in a season is worth getting excited about. But Seider did it as a rookie! If that’s the floor, I can’t wait to see how much better he gets in the coming seasons. Even his Year-1 fantasy stat line looked like something we’d get from Zdeno Chara in his prime.

94. Lucas Raymond, LW, Red Wings: Confident, intelligent and mature beyond his years, Raymond had the coaching staff’s trust from the pre-season and flourished as a rookie in a top-line winger role, putting up 23-34-57 in 82 games. He should only get better.

This just makes sense: Detroit’s Mount Rushmore of Sports, at least according to the Sporting News’s Bill Bender, consists of Al Kaline, Barry Sanders, Isaiah Thomas and one Gordie Howe.

SANDERS. HOWE. KALINE. THOMAS.

Your Detroit Mount Rushmore has officially arrived 👀

📰: https://t.co/SUuVWuvE8r pic.twitter.com/qvFP7dLAxd— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 (@sportingnews) July 28, 2022

GORDIE HOWE (Red Wings, 1946-71): Gordie Howe played 1,687 games with the Red Wings and remains the franchise’s all-time leader with 1,809 points. [Detroit News columnist Bob] Wojnowski still did not fully comprehend what the Red Wings right wing meant to the game until Howe died. Wojnowski attended Howe’s funeral at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit on June 15, 2016. 

“I was amazed just at how many average hockey fans had personal stories with him,” Wojnowski said. “He would show up after retirement, which took a long time, at local rinks and have a game with them. He couldn’t have been nicer and couldn’t have been friendlier. It was the amount of tears I saw from people who met him maybe once.” 

Howe endeared himself to hockey fans with the “Howe hat trick,” which was a goal, an assist and a fight in the same game. He was a “Hockeytown” hero as part of Stanley Cup championship teams in 1950, 1952, 1954 and 1955. He played for 25 more seasons in the NHL after that and still wasn’t done. 

“He couldn’t get hockey out of his blood,” Wojnowski said. “He wasn’t the fastest skater. No, he didn’t have the best hands or best wrist shot, but he was the ultimate power hockey player.” 

Continued, with comments from Mitch Albom and Bally Sports Detroit’s Johnny Kane…

Daily Faceoff’s Mike McKenna posted a list of his “Five NHL teams having sneaky good offseasons,” and the Red Wings made his cut:

Detroit Red Wings: Most of the work done so far this offseason by GM Steve Yzerman has been via free agency, but don’t discount the move to acquire goaltender Ville Husso’s rights from the St. Louis Blues. Detroit was able to sign the RFA to a four-year deal, solidifying the crease in tandem with incumbent Alex Nedeljkovic.

Then the Red Wings went to work during free agency, signing veteran defensemen Ben Chiarot and Olli Maatta. Detroit gained scoring at the forward position by signing David Perron and Dominik Kubalik. Michigan native Andrew Copp came home on a five-year deal.

I’m a huge fan of Copp’s game and think an elevated role in the Motor City will be beneficial for both sides. Yzerman has been patient during his time at the helm of the Red Wings. But the rebuild was just kicked into high gear for the 2022-23 season. I think Detroit has a legitimate chance of making the Stanley Cup playoffs. 

Continued

From Bally Sports Detroit comes this video of Natalie Kerwin speaking with Calvin Johnson, Dylan Larkin and Tom Izzo at the Rocket Mortgage Classic: